Success and Failure

And let's be real—when things go the opposite direction, it's not just about external challenges; it's also about the mistakes we make, the flaws in our own hearts and our human sinful nature. This can make the journey of life and our mission to serve God in the world pretty tiring. But instead of getting hung up on aiming for success, our focus should be on staying true and faithful to God through obedience. What keeps us going is the big-picture idea that ultimately, it's God Himself who's going to establish a world ruled by His kingdom of love, righteousness, peace, fulfilment and satisfaction.

Comments

Through Trials and Triumphs

(Photo unknown source) I have faced many struggles in life - challenges, as I call them. They encompass every aspect of my being. Spiritually, there were moments when I questioned whether God was still with me. Socially, life’s battles made it difficult for me to engage with people, so I focused on working hard, as I did not have much to spare for socializing. Mentally, the weight of my problems either numbed me or left me overwhelmed. While I never entertained suicidal thoughts, there were times - especially during my studies in Master's Degree - when I said hurtful words to myself for not doing well academically, leaving myself in moments of deep despair. Emotionally, I found it hard to accept criticism, especially in my work. Financially, my family was never wealthy; we always had just enough. And in terms of health, perhaps genetically, my sister and I have always been sickly, much like our parents before us. But even as I recount these str...

When God Feels Near Yet Far

Photo Credits Leeklin Flickr When I was 20 years old, on this same day March 4, 2002, a tragedy struck our family. Our house was robbed, my mother was killed, and my sister barely survived. The irony of it all was that my father was a policeman in our town - someone sworn to protect others, yet he could not shield his own family from harm because he was on duty serving our town. While me, I was 8 hours drive away from my family then. Just two days after my mother’s burial, I stood in the seminary hall for our graduation, where we were to be vested by the Bishop for full-time ministry after 4 fours years of training. I cannot recall what the Bishop preached that day as my mind was consumed with questions: Had God abandoned our family? Was He still present with us? That season of my life forced me to wrestle with one of the attributes of God - His omnipresence. How near is God, yet how far is God? When tragedy strikes, is He close enough...

Providence - Does It Really Matter If We Pray?

Photo by Harold Moses God’s Providence Does It Really Matter If We Pray? Good evening everyone. I came across this statement written by Daniel T. Niles, a renowned Sri Lankan Methodist evangelist and theologian in 20th Century and he wrote: We must make sure that we do not decide that we shall succeed. If we decide to succeed then we may succeed without succeeding in God's way. But if we go on from day to day seeking to do his will, then we shall be prepared to receive success from him if he wills it ; and if he does not, then humbly to say - It is God's decision David shall not build the temple, but he will raise up Solomon. - Daniel T. Niles In just one short paragraph, this can be framed into several doctrines for discussion such as the Sovereignty of God, human will and divine will, prayer and divine providence. But I only want to touch two things: God’s Providence and Prayers. First, I would like to define the doctrine of Providence....

The Inner Thoughts

Search This Blog